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Proprietary Sustainability Research From IW Financial Now Available In IWF Workstation Or As Data Feed
Proprietary Sustainability Research From IW Financial Now Available In IWF Workstation Or As Data Feed
Published 03-03-09
Submitted by Non Profile
PORTLAND, ME. - March 3, 2009 - Sustainability research from IW Financial incorporating more than 1,000 data points into coverage of eight major issue categories is now available to investors and asset managers as a data feed or on the IWF Workstation platform, it was announced today by the firm. The research was previously available exclusively through IW Financial's consulting group.
The IW Financial sustainability research is among the industry's most comprehensive. It currently covers more than 1,000 publicly traded U.S. companies and will grow to 3,000 by the end of the year. Among the eight issue categories included are Climate Change, Environmental Performance, Environmental Management, Workforce, and Human Rights, with each category supported by research on multiple data points. Among the environmentally focused data points are a measurement of total Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and GHG emissions by revenue; a calculation of total energy use and energy use by revenue; and a characterization of a company's overall climate change policy.
"We analyze a company's sustainability in a values-neutral way, focusing on disclosure, policy, and performance. The results data allows asset managers to compare the performance of individual companies to a benchmark or to their peers, and to invest accordingly," said Mark Bateman, IW Financial's Director of Research. "This set of data really demonstrates which companies are - and which companies aren't - pursuing sustainability."
Investors increasingly see sustainability as an important consideration, according to David Myers, Director of the Financial Services Laboratory at Lehigh University. "There is a growing body of research that points to the materiality of these factors," Myers said. "As more data is collected, I suspect that we'll be finding more relationships between these issues and shareholder value."
Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC, a leading independent research and global proxy advisory firm, was an early adopter of the IW Financial sustainability research, integrating the data into its Proxy Paper reports. "We've been impressed with the quality of the data and the value it adds for our clients," said Robert McCormick, Chief Policy Officer at Glass Lewis. "This information is increasingly being seen by investors as an important consideration in their investment decisions."
By making its sustainability data available electronically, IW Financial allows IWF Workstation users to further leverage the platform's powerful analytics. Non-IWF Workstation users can easily incorporate the data feed into their own analytical systems
"We see investor demand for sustainability research continuing to accelerate," said Sam Pierce, chief executive officer at IW Financial. "We want to make our research available to investors in the format that is most useful to them."
About IW Financial
IW Financial is a leading provider of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research, consulting and portfolio management solutions for asset management firms, managed accounts sponsors, institutional investors, plan sponsors, and investment advisors.
With its unique combination of investment industry expertise, unbiased research, and technology solutions, IW Financial helps industry professionals capitalize on growing investor demand by incorporating ESG factors into investment platforms, products, and portfolios, adding value to the money management process while strengthening client relationships.
For more information on IW Financial visit www.iwfinancial.com.
